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More by Charles Dickens

Charles Dickens "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times."

In this staple of classic literature, Charles Dickens tells the tale of fueding classes set at the inception and escalation of the French Revolution. Amidst the upheaval, righteous former aristocrat Charles Darnay becomes wrongly tangled in unfortunate events, endangering his freedom and family. Sidney Carton, a cynical lawyer who squandered his life away, seeks to redress his unhappiness through Darnay's beautiful wife, Lucie. This seminal story of love, chaos, and redemption is expertly read by Jon Smith, who infuses excitement using a variety of voices. Revisit a favorite or fill in a literary gap with the timeless A Tale of Two Cities.

Charles Dickens Tiny Tim, Bob Cratchit, and Ebenezer Scrooge come to marvelous life in Patrick Stewart's critically-acclaimed solo interpretation of A Christmas Carol. The star of X-Men and The Royal Shakespeare Company, Stewart has performed his one-man stage production of this holiday classic to sell-out audiences. Now, in this Grammy-nominated studio recording of the dazzling achievement that has thrilled audiences in New York and Los Angeles, Stewart invites listeners to rediscover the timeless story at its source: Dickens' own words, presented in a soaring, virtuoso solo performance in which Stewart plays all parts.

Charles Dickens Oliver Twist was the second novel by Charles DickensFirst published in 1837, the story of the young orphan Oliver Twist and his life on the mean streets of London has fascinated and shocked ever since.

The young orphan Oliver Twist flees a cruel workhouse for the dirty streets of London, where he falls in with a nefarious gang. As the shrewd Artful Dodger, the menacing Fagin, and the vicious Bill Sikes lead Oliver deeper into a criminal life, a dark conspiracy is revealed around him.

Please note: This is a vintage recording. The audio quality may not be up to modern day standards.

Charles Dickens This is Jim Dale's incomparable telling of the beloved
A Christmas Carol, a "little book," as Charles Dickens himself called it, which has been treasured by generations since December of 1843. Listeners of all ages will be enthralled as they meet for the first time, or are reunited with, that miser of all misers, Mr. Ebenezer Scrooge; his cheerful and long-suffering assistant, Bob Cratchit; Scrooge's mysterious visitors on a wintry Christmas Eve, the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Christmas Present and Christmas Future; and the other characters in the timeless story which is sure to touch a chord in all of us.
Let a master reader beguile you with this universal reminder of what the holiday season can and should mean in this unique production of Dickens' classic and ever-timely tale.

Charles Dickens With well over 200 million copies sold, it ranks among the most famous works in the history of fictional literature. The novel depicts the plight of the French peasantry demoralized by the French aristocracy in the years leading up to the revolution, the corresponding brutality demonstrated by the revolutionaries toward the former aristocrats in the early years of the revolution, and many unflattering social parallels with life in London during the same time period.

Charles Dickens A Tale of Two Cities, one of Charles Dickens' most popular works, is highly recognized for its opening line, "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times." The two cities of the title are Paris and London; the time is the height of the French Revolution. From the gripping opening scene of the coach drive to the heroic climax in the shadow of the guillotine, Dickens creates a vivid picture of social turmoil and the unfolding of a dramatic love story.

Charles Dickens With well over 200 million copies sold, this novel ranks among the most famous works in the history of fictional literature. It depicts the plight of the French peasantry demoralized by the French aristocracy in the years leading up to the revolution, the corresponding brutality demonstrated by the revolutionaries toward the former aristocrats in the early years of the revolution, and many unflattering social parallels with life in London during the same time period.

Charles Dickens Sour and stingy Ebenezer Scrooge has an emotional transformation after the supernatural visits of Jacob Marley and the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Yet to Come. The novella met with instant success and critical acclaim. A Christmas Carol has never been out of print and has been adapted to film, opera, and other media.

Charles Dickens Here is the story of Pip and his mysterious rise from abused orphan to gentleman. Magwitch, the brutal convict, withered Miss Havisham, still wearing her yellowed wedding gown, and the heartless and beautiful Estella, are vibrant characters. Listen in to this superb story told with typical Dickensian warmth and humor and woven around unforgettable characters.

Charles Dickens Tiny Tim, Bob Cratchit, and Ebenezer Scrooge come to marvelous life in Patrick Stewart's critically-acclaimed solo interpretation of
A Christmas Carol. The star of
X-Men and The Royal Shakespeare Company, Stewart has performed his one-man stage production of this holiday classic to sell-out audiences. Now, in this Grammy-nominated studio recording of the dazzling achievement that has thrilled audiences in New York and Los Angeles, Stewart invites listeners to rediscover the timeless story at its source: Dickens' own words, presented in a soaring, virtuoso solo performance in which Stewart plays all parts.

Charles Dickens Dickens called David Copperfield his "favourite child," and many critics consider the novel to be one of his best depictions of childhood. Set in early Victorian England against a backdrop of great social change, Dickens acutely observed the phenomena of the Industrial Revolution and used them as the canvas on which he painted the novel. Many consider David Copperfield to be the author’s finest work.

Charles Dickens Great Expectations is a novel by Charles Dickens, first serialised in
All the Year Round from December 1860 to August 1861. The action of the story takes place from Christmas Eve 1812, when the protagonist is about seven years old, to the winter of 1840.
Great Expectations is written in a semi-autobiographical style, and is the story of the orphan Pip, tracing his life from his early days of childhood until adulthood. The story can also be considered a semi-autobiographical portrait of Dickens, like much of his work, drawing on his experiences of life and people.

Charles Dickens One of the most revered works in English literature, Great Expectations traces the coming of age of a young orphan, Pip, from a boy of shallow aspirations into a man of maturity. From the chilling opening confrontation with an escaped convict to the grand but eerily disheveled estate of bitter old Miss Havisham, all is not what it seems in Dickens’ dark tale of false illusions and thwarted desire.

Raised by a humble blacksmith, Pip is recruited by the wealthy Miss Havisham to be a companion to her ward, the cold but beautiful Estella. There, Pip learns to despise his rough origins as Estella torments him about his low prospects. When Pip is informed that an unknown benefactor expects to make him his heir, he sets off to London to realize his “great expectations.” But true gentleman stature, he will find, is a matter of character, not fortune.

Charles Dickens A terrifying encounter with an escaped convict in a graveyard on the wild Kent marshes; a summons to meet the bitter, decaying Miss Havisham and her beautiful, cold-hearted ward Estella; the sudden generosity of a mysterious benefactor; these form a series of events that change the orphaned Pip's life forever, and he eagerly abandons his humble origins to begin a new life as a gentleman. Great Expectations follow's Pip's education and development through adversity as he discovers the true nature of his 'great expectations'.

Charles Dickens Ebenezer Scrooge is a miser who lords over his poor employee, Bob Cratchit, and hates the joys that Christmas affords everyone but himself.After being exceptionally miserable at the office on the day of Christmas Eve, Scrooge returns home to be haunted by three spirits who attempt to motivate a change in the old man's demeanor - lest he continue on his current path and face almost certain eternal damnation.

Charles Dickens Hard Times - For These Times is the tenth novel by Charles DickensPublished in 1854, the story describes class conflict in Victorian England and serves as a powerful critique of the social injustices that plagued the Industrial Revolution.

Charles Dickens (1812 - 9 June 1870) is arguably the greatest novelist England ever produced. His innate comic genius and shrewd depictions of Victorian life - along with his memorable characters - have made him beloved by readers the world over.

Please note: This is a vintage recording. The audio quality may not be up to modern day standards.

Charles Dickens Get into the spirit, along with Scrooge, Marley, three ghosts, and a host of unforgettable characters. This is a wonderful rendition of the timeless Christmas classic by Charles Dickens, to be enjoyed again and again from season to season.

Charles Dickens Set against the bloody background of the French Revolution, this is perhaps Dickens' most famous work. Doctor Manette, his devoted daughter Lucie, and the young French aristocrat Charles Darnay are memorable characters. Above all the others rises the reckless Sidney Carton, whose selfless love makes him one of literature's great heroes.

Charles Dickens Born to an unmarried woman who dies after giving birth, orphan Oliver Twist seems destined to slog through a dismal life in the workhouse. A rebellious cry for more gets Oliver banished, and ultimately lands him on the dismal streets of London. The young outcast finds refuge with Fagin and his band of thieves before fate intervenes and puts Oliver in the hands of a kindly benefactor. It is likely that Dickens's own early youth as a child laborer contributed to the story's development. Oliver Twist has been the subject of countless film and television adaptations.

Charles Dickens This is Jim Dale's incomparable telling of the beloved A Christmas Carol, a "little book," as Charles Dickens himself called it, which has been treasured by generations since December of 1843. Listeners of all ages will be enthralled as they meet for the first time, or are reunited with, that miser of all misers, Mr. Ebenezer Scrooge; his cheerful and long-suffering assistant, Bob Cratchit; Scrooge's mysterious visitors on a wintry Christmas Eve, the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Christmas Present and Christmas Future; and the other characters in the timeless story which is sure to touch a chord in all of us.Let a master reader beguile you with this universal reminder of what the holiday season can and should mean in this unique production of Dickens' classic and ever-timely tale.

Charles Dickens Held to be Dickens' finest novel, containing one of the most vast, complex and engaging arrays of minor characters and sub-plots in his entire canon. Memorable characters include the menacing lawyer Tulkinghorn, the friendly, but depressive John Jarndyce, and the childish and disingenuous Harold Skimpole, as well as the likeable but imprudent Richard Carstone. A suspenseful tale about the injustices of the 19th-century English legal system. This novel set the standard for modern day legal thrillers.

Charles Dickens When David Copperfield escapes from the cruelty of his childhood home, he embarks on a journey to adulthood which leads him through comedy and tragedy, love and heartbreak, and friendship and betrayal.

Charles Dickens This novel provides a highly charged examination of human suffering and human sacrifice, private experience and public history, during the French Revolution.

A Tale of Two Cities is one of Charles Dickens's most exciting novels. Set against the backdrop of the French Revolution, it tells the story of a family threatened by the terrible events of the past. Doctor Manette was wrongly imprisoned in the Bastille for 18 years without trial by the aristocratic authorities. Finally released, he is reunited with his daughter, Lucie, who despite her French ancestry has been brought up in London. Lucie falls in love with Charles Darnay, another expatriate, who has abandoned wealth and a title in France because of his political convictions. When revolution breaks out in Paris, Darnay returns to the city to help an old family servant, but there he is arrested because of the crimes committed by his relations. His wife, Lucie, their young daughter, and her aged father follow him across the channel, thus putting all their lives in danger.

Charles Dickens The Old Curiosity Shop is a novel by Charles Dickens. The plot follows the life of Nell Trent and her grandfather, both residents of The Old Curiosity Shop in London.

Charles Dickens is arguably the greatest novelist England ever produced. His innate comic genius and shrewd depictions of Victorian life - along with his memorable characters - have made him beloved by readers the world over.

Please note: This is a vintage recording. The audio quality may not be up to modern day standards.

Charles Dickens This version of Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol, masterfully narrated by Tim Curry, was available for a limited time last year, and now it's back. This one-of-a-kind performance puts a unique spin on a treasured classic, and served as the inspiration for the exciting new line of Audible Signature Classics, including Adventures of Huckleberry Finn with Elijah Wood, and Heart of Darkness with Kenneth Branagh. Tim Curry performs this timeless holiday story in a deliciously dark tone, returning it to its Dickensian roots with a vivid imagining of Victorian London and just the right touch of outrageous fun.

A Christmas Carol has constantly been in print since its original publication in 1849, and has been adapted for stage, television, film, and opera. It has often been credited with returning the jovial and festive atmosphere to the holiday season in Britain and North America, following the somber period that emerged during the Industrial Revolution.

The story opens on a bleak and cold Christmas Eve as Ebenezer Scrooge is closing up his office for the day. As the story progresses and Christmas morning approaches, Scrooge encounters the unforgettable characters that make this story a classic: Bob Cratchit, Tiny Tim, and, of course, the ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Yet to Come.

This volume features William F. Harvey's original undead hand story "The Beast with Five Fingers" that sparked many movies, including Sam Raimi's "The Evil Dead". Poe's classic "The Tell Tale Heart" is joined by Lovecraft's creepy tale of alienation "The Outsider", and a chilling Dickens ghost story "The Signalman". Harvey's other selected story, "August Heat", asks a chilling question about a man's fate, and Saki offers something different with a tale of dead hunters returned from their marshy graves in "The Open Window".

Charles Dickens One of Dicken’s best works appraising English society. Highlights the social and economic pressures of the times. A masterwork.

Charles Dickens Hear Dickens' gift for social commentary in this classic story of the poor orphan, Oliver. In this time-tested classic, Dickens aimed to expose the filth of the London underworld as well as attack the inhumanity of the New Poor Law of 1834. This audiobook is a stunning performance by the award-winning Miriam Margolyes, who is considered one of the most knowledgeable and brilliant actors/interpreters of Dickens.

Humorous, dramatic, ironic and tender, David Copperfield has always been one of Dickens's most popular novels. From his boyhood at the knee of his nurse Peggotty, to the cruelties of Salem House Academy and his youthful adoration of Dora Splendow, David begins to learn about life, the world, and the heart. His path to maturity is filled with memorable characters, such as the Micawbers, Uriah Heep, Steerforth and many more. Told as 'autobiography', David Copperfield draws deeply on Dickens's own life and was his own 'favourite child' among his books.

Part of a series of abridged, vintage recordings taken from the Penguin Archives.

Charles Dickens Richly complex, darkly comical, and irresistibly charming. Charles Dickens'
Oliver Twist is one of the greatest novels of the 19th century, from one of literature's most esteemed craftsmen. Published serially between 1837 and 1839, it secured Dickens' reputation as a writer of exceptional skill and talent.
Orphaned at birth, Oliver Twist is brought up in a workhouse, sold to an undertaker, and generally ill-treated. Hoping to escape his melancholy existence, Oliver flees to London. With each step of his journey, he travels deeper into a world populated by depraved villains, wicked pickpockets, and sinister opportunists. But there is a secret to Oliver's birth that promises to change everything.

A grim but vivid portrait of the Victorian era, Oliver Twist is the novel that gave voice to the world's forgotten and defenseless people.

Charles Dickens Great Expectations is regarded as one of the greatest and most sophisticated novels by Charles DickensSerialised between December 1860 to August 1861, it tells the heartwarming story of Pip, a poor boy who gets an unexpected chance to move up in society.

Charles Dickens (1812 - 9 June 1870) is arguably the greatest novelist England ever produced. His innate comic genius and shrewd depictions of Victorian life - along with his memorable characters - have made him beloved by readers the world over.

Please note: This is a vintage recording. The audio quality may not be up to modern day standards.

Charles Dickens Sour and stingy Ebenezer Scrooge has an emotional transformation after the supernatural visits of Jacob Marley and the ghosts of Christmas past, present, and yet to come. The novella met with instant success and critical acclaim. A Christmas Carol has never been out of print and has been adapted to film, opera, and other media.

Charles Dickens Ebeneezer Scrooge runs a tight shop with a tight fist and a sharp tongue. On Christmas Eve, he is visited by the ghost of his old partner, Jacob Marley. Marley relates that in order for Scrooge’s soul to be reclaimed, he must be haunted by three spirits. The first of the three appear, and Scrooge’s reclamation begins.

Charles Dickens A heartless convict. The devil's fairy godmother. A beautiful girl with eyes of stone. A spectral benefactor. These and many others shape the fortunes of young Pip, as he is transformed from a blacksmith's apprentice to a young gentleman with great expectations.

Charles Dickens Considered by many to be Charles Dickens's finest novel,
Great Expectations traces the growth of the book's narrator, the orphan Philip Pirrip (Pip), from a boy of shallow dreams to a man with depth of character.
From its famous dramatic opening on the bleak Kentish marshes, the story abounds with some of Dickens's most memorable characters. Among them are the kindly blacksmith Joe Gargery, the mysterious convict Abel Magwitch, the eccentric Miss Havisham and her beautiful ward Estella, Pip's good-hearted roommate Herbert Pocket, and the pompous Pumblechook.

As Pip unravels the truth behind his own "great expectations" in his quest to become a gentleman, the mysteries of the past and the convolutions of fate through a series of thrilling adventures serve to steer him toward maturity and his most important discovery of all - the truth about himself.

Charles Dickens With the backdrop of the French Revolution, this classic book of love, terror, and political cruelty reveals the true conditions of London and Paris during the last-half of the 18th century. Stimulating and emotional, this book strikes at the heart.

Charles Dickens Sour and stingy Ebenezer Scrooge's emotional transformation after the supernatural visits of Jacob Marley and the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Yet to Come. The novella met with instant success and critical acclaim. A Christmas Carol has never been out of print and has been adapted to film, opera, and other media.

Charles Dickens David Copperfield is the quintessential novel by England's most beloved novelist. Based in part on Dickens's own life, it is the story of a young man's journey from an unhappy and impoverished childhood to the discovery of his vocation as a successful novelist. Among its gloriously vivid cast of characters, he encounters his tyrannical stepfather, Mr. Murdstone; his formidable aunt, Betsey Trotwood; the eternally humble yet treacherous Uriah Heep; the frivolous, enchanting Dora; and one of literature's great comic creations, the magnificently impecunious Mr. Micawber - a character resembling Dickens's own father.
In David Copperfield - the novel he described as his "favorite child" - Dickens drew revealingly on his own experiences to create one of his most exuberant and enduringly popular works, filled with tragedy and comedy in equal measure.

Charles Dickens First published in monthly parts from March 1852 to September 1853, this novel follows the fortunes of three pedestrian characters; Esther Summerson, Ada Clare, and Richard Carstone. The story they tell embondies Dickens' merciless indictment of the Court of Chancery and its bungling, morally corrupt handling of the endless case of Jarndyce v. Jarndyce, giving the novel its scope and meaning.Starting with Esther's account of her lonely, unhappy childhood, her role as protégée of the worthy John Jarndyce, Richard and Ada's guardian, the tale develops the relations between the three young people in the Jarndyce household. Numerous other characters contribute to the complex portrait of society which emerges from the novel. They include the romantic, effusive, and unworldly Harold Skimpole (based on Leigh Hunt, poet, journalist, and critic, who published The Examiner in which he introduced the public to Keats and Shelley); the boisterous, short-tempered Boythorn (based on Walter Savage Landor, poet and essayist, mentor to Robert Browning); Krook, the rag-and-bottle shopkeeper who dies a hideous death by 'spontaneous combustion'; Gridley and the crazed Miss Flite, both ruined by Chancery; Mrs. Jellyby, neglectful of domestic responsibilities in favor of 'telescope philanthropy'; the greasy Mr. Chadband, a parson 'of no particular denomination'; and Conversation Kenge and Mr. Vholes, lawyers both.

Of particular importance to the moral design of the novel is Jo, the crossing-sweeper whose brutish life and death are the instruments for one of Dickens' most savage judgments on an indifferent society.

Charles Dickens Dickens never employed greater skill or more consummate craftsmanship on any other of his works than he did on A Tale of Two Cities, his magnificent historical novel set during the turbulent era marking the end of Louis XVI's reign.

His passionate portrayal of the lives of two groups, one English, one French, caught up in the net of revolutionary intrigue and cruelty, has never been equalled. The novel depicts the plight of the French peasantry demoralized by the French aristocracy in the decade prior to the revolution, the corresponding brutality demonstrated by the revolutionaries toward the former aristocrats in the early years of the revolution, and many unflattering social parallels with life in London during the same time period. It follows the lives of several protagonists through these events. The most notable are Charles Darnay and Sydney Carton. Darnay is a French ex-aristocrat who falls victim to the indiscriminate wrath of the revolution despite his virtuous nature, and Carton is a dissipated British barrister who endeavours to redeem his ill-spent life out of his unrequited love for Darnay's wife, Lucie Manette.

Written in 1859, the novel is a tale of renunciation and resurrection created at a point of crisis in Dickens' personal life. The title suggests the basic dichotomy of the story: the choice of attempting to change society or the more difficult choice of attempting to change one's self...the choice between revolution or evolution. In Sydney Carton, Dickens created the perfect protagonist for his thesis.

Charles Dickens After living a bitter, miserly life, Ebeneezer Scrooge ends up a wealthy but much-loathed figure in old London. One fateful Christmas Eve, Ebeneezer encounters spectral visitors who bring the old miser visions of Christmas past, present, and future. This wonderful story of redemption and Christmas cheer will melt even the coldest, most cynical heart.

Charles Dickens This novel was first Serialised under the title The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club between April 1836 and November 1837, when Dickens was in his mid-20s.Mr Samuel Pickwick is the founder and chairman of the absurd Pickwick Club which consists Tupman, Snodgrass and Winkle who go through various highly amusing and often quite ridiculous adventures.

Please note: This is a vintage recording. The audio quality may not be up to modern day standards.

As the interminable case of Jarndyce and Jarndyce grinds its way through the Court of Chancery, it draws together a disparate group of people: Ada and Richard Clare, whose inheritance is gradually being devoured by legal costs; Esther Summerson, a ward of court, whose parentage is a source of deepening mystery; the menacing lawyer Tulkinghorn; the determined sleuth Inspector Bucket; and even Jo, the destitute little crossing-sweeper. A savage, but often comic, indictment of a society that is rotten to the core, Bleak House is one of Dickens's most ambitious novels, with a range that extends from the drawing rooms of the aristocracy to the poorest of London slums.

Part of a series of abridged, vintage recordings taken from the Penguin Archives.

Charles Dickens When the young orphan called Pip encounters the escaped convict Magwitch, the child's life is altered forever - in ways he cannot even imagine. In the course of his story, Pip encounters such memorable characters as the eccentric Miss Havisham and her beautiful ward Estella - and a mysterious benefactor. This recording includes both of the endings Dickens wrote for this classic novel.

Charles Dickens "Every idiot who goes about with 'Merry Christmas' on his lips should be boiled with his own pudding," says Ebenezer Scrooge. Mean old Scrooge despises Christmas until Christmas Eve, when a haunted voice from the past changes his life: overnight! Many know this story but few have experienced the true marvel of the tale.

It is Christmas Eve, and the air outside is as cold as Scrooge’s heart. Come nightfall, Scrooge receives three visitors: the ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Future. Each spirit takes him on a hair-raising journey through time, yielding glimpses of Tiny Tim and Bob Cratchit—and even Scrooge’s painfully hopeful younger self. Will Scrooge’s heart be opened? Can he escape his cursed fate?

Charles Dickens After 18 years as a political prisoner in the Bastille, the aging Dr. Manette is finally released and reunited with his daughter in England. There two very different men, Charles Darnay, an exiled French aristocrat, and Sydney Carton, a disreputable but brilliant English lawyer, become enmeshed through their love for Lucie Manette. From the tranquil lanes of London, they are all drawn against their will to the vengeful, bloodstained streets of Paris at the height of the Reign of Terror and soon fall under the lethal shadow of La Guillotine.

Charles Dickens Originally serialized between 1843-1844, Dickens' story tells of Martin, the grandson of old Martin Chuzzlewit, who is rich but has become bittter due to the greed of his kin. Young Martin is initially selfish but through hard labour and the positive and cheerful influence of his servant, Tapley, becomes decent.The novel is broken up into segments by young Martin's voyage to seek his fortune in America. This allowed the author to satirically portray the US.

Please note: This is a vintage recording. The audio quality may not be up to modern day standards.

Charles Dickens Dombey and Son is a novel with the full title Dealings with the Firm of Dombey and Son: Wholesale, Retail and for Exportation by Charles Dickens.First published in monthly parts between October 1846 and April 1848, it tells the story of Paul Dombey a heartless London merchant who runs his domestic affairs as he runs his business. In his daily life there is no room for dealing with emotions because emotion has no market value. In his son he sees the future of his firm and the continuation of his name, while he neglects his affectionate daughter, until he decides to get rid of her beloved, a lowly clerk. But Dombey's weakness is his pride, and he falls prey to the treacherous flattery of others.

Combining an intricate plot, vivid language, and Dickens's customary social commentary, this is another classic from the master novelist.

Please note: This is a vintage recording. The audio quality may not be up to modern day standards.

Charles Dickens Orphaned and alone in turn-of-the-century London, a boy falls in with a gang of young thieves, befriending their leader, the colorful Artful Dodger, and goes to work for the villainous Fagin. Life on the street hurls Oliver into a danger-filled adventure as he learns the ways of the hard world, while clinging to the dream of warm bed, a loving family, and a home.
Performed by the St. Charles Players in exciting Radio Theatre style!